India can help French businesses become more competitive in manufacturing: Goyal

05 Jun 2025 Evaluate

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India can help French businesses become more competitive in manufacturing to tap global markets. He said this could be a shared mission where France and India collaborate closely to strengthen bilateral economic ties. 

Addressing businesses of India and France, the minister said the level of trade and investments between the two countries needs to be enhanced, as the current figures do not reflect their true potential. India’s exports to France stood at $8 billion in 2024-25, while imports were $7.3 billion. He said ‘there’s so much to do to expand our exchange, not only in defence’.

The minister suggested setting up a working group on artificial intelligence to enhance engagement on the subject. He said ‘we’ve already got a lot of exchanges between the two countries on banking and insurance. We could look at seeing how that could be taken to the next level. We could look at global capability centres, and we have a fair bit coming in from all across the world to India to leverage the huge pool of talent and skill’. 

He noted that talks for the proposed free trade agreement between India and the European Union are moving forward at a ‘very’ fast pace, and this ‘leap of faith’ would be incomplete with businesses on both sides working together aggressively to expand this relationship. He urged businesses to make full use of the agreement once it is implemented. Further, he highlighted that there is no need to ease business regulations in the EU. 

© 2025 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×